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Anderson made it 1-1 just five minutes into the second period with a classy finish before giving the visitors the lead from close range midway through the half. Raynes then inadvertently fired into his own net as Lincoln completely overwhelmed the Alex.

Anderson limped off in the closing stages but Lincoln still struck again through Whitehouse deep into added time.

Some of the 990 Imps fans at Crewe (Image: Andrew Vaughan/CameraSport)

After a successful substitute appearance against Notts County in the Checkatrade Trophy on Tuesday, Anderson made his first start since returning from injury.

Following his spectacular winner against Notts in that game, Josh Ginnelly kept his place on the opposite flank, with Ollie Palmer as the central striker.

Whitehouse, who was named man of the match against County, kept his place and operated just behind Palmer.

In the heart of defence, Rob Dickie returned to the side at the expense of Luke Waterfall, who was named on a strong bench which also featured Paul Farman, Matt Rhead, Matt Green, Nathan Arnold and recent signing Cameron Stewart.

The game got off to a lively start with both sides trading half-chances. On five minutes, Anderson broke into the Crewe box with a typically direct run. Instead of shooting he tried to cut the ball back to Whitehouse but the pass went just behind the midfielder.

A couple of minutes later, the Alex took the lead in frustratingly simple fashion from the Imps’ point of view as a right-wing corner was headed home by Raynes.

The hosts could have doubled their lead on 18 minutes when, after a good move, Chris Dagnell had just Josh Vickers to beat, but his attempted chip cleared both the Imps keeper and the bar.

Lincoln had their first real opening on the half-hour mark when Palmer failed to make a decent connection with his head after being found by Neal Eardley’s deep free-kick.

The Alex went close again after the Imps clumsily lost the ball in midfield with Cooper’s long-range effort being deflected inches wide.

The half ended on a scrappy note, with neither side making much headway.

Harry Anderson celebrates with Josh Ginnelly after making it 1-1 (Image: Andrew Vaughan/CameraSport)

The Imps came flying out of the blocks at the start of the second half with Whitehouse seeing an effort hacked off the line. Palmer then tried to force the ball home but Crewe managed to scramble it behind for a corner.

The Alex’s goal didn’t survive much longer though as Anderson – the Imps’ greatest threat going forward – made it 1-1. After linking up with Sean Long, the winger drove forward, cut inside and fired across Richards with his left foot to the delight of the near 1,000 travelling fans.

Anderson weaved more magic just past the hour mark. After skilfully finding space for himself down the right, his dangerous cross was headed over by Whitehouse.

City took the lead midway through the half as Anderson grabbed his second. Sean Raggett’s header was initially blocked before being forced into the net amid a goalmouth melee.

Four minutes later, a rampant City added a third when Long’s dangerous low cross from the right was slid into his own net by Raynes.

Sadly, Anderson’s brilliant afternoon ended on a disappointing note as he limped off with 10 minutes to go and was replaced by Waterfall.

Whitehouse put the gloss on the result with a cool finish beyond Richards in the fifth minute off added time.